Sugar Land, Texas- The Sugar Land Skeeters (9-11, 39-51) carried three home runs and a strong pitching performance into a 7-1 defeat of the Somerset Patriots (11-9, 53-37) in Friday night’s series-opener at Constellation Field.

Joe Benson (5) opened up the scoring for Sugar Land with a leadoff solo home run to left field in the bottom of the first inning. The Skeeters doubled their lead in the fourth on a Cole Gillespie. 

Sugar Land extended their lead out to 6-0 in the fifth thanks to a four-run frame. A Derek Miller two-run home run, Joe Benson RBI double and a Cole Gillespie RBI single highlighted the inning. Miller later added an RBI double one inning later to increase the lead to 7-0.

Somerset’s lone run came on an RBI groundout from Justin Pacchioli in the top of the eighth inning.

Mitch Talbot (5-2) earned the win with six scoreless, three-hit innings on the mound. David Kubiak (4-8) suffered the loss after he allowed seven runs on nine hits with seven strikeouts over six innings.

Somerset continues its six-game series in Sugar Land Saturday night. Connor Root (0-1, 3.62 ERA) takes the mound for the Patriots against Skeeters’ righty Jake Hale (6-2, 2.60 ERA). First pitch at Constellation Field is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. CT and 7:05 p.m. ET.

Tickets to the 2017 Somerset Patriots Season presented by Ford, which includes the team’s 20th Anniversary, are on sale now. For more information, stop by the ballpark, call (908) 252-0700, or visit www.somersetpatriots.com.

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